WEIRDSMOBILE: BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO WORDS


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	Because They Have No Words

jeff

Jeff Awards WINNER:
'Sound Design (Midsize)': Jack Arky

Jeff Awards Nominee:
'Ensemble Performance'

Ovation Awards Nominee:
'World Premiere Play' and 'Ensemble Performance.'

PRODUCTION TIMELINE

September 2006:
World Premiere at The Lounge Theatre in Hollywood.

Original Cast:
Tisha Terrasini Banker*, Samantha Bennett, Rufus Bonds, Jr.*, Lanai Chapman, Tim Maddock, LeShay Tomlinson* and Colin Walker.

Directed by Emilie Beck. Sound Design & Original Music by Jack Arky. Lighting Design by Christopher Kuhl. Set Design
by Sara Ryung Clement. Stage Manager: Allyson Schoolcraft. Assistant Director: Katie Soff.

May 2008:
Midwest Premiere at Piven Theatre Workshop, Evanston, IL.

Cast:
DuShon Monique Brown*, Marla Caceres, Jennifer Coombs, Lawrence Grimm*, Tim Maddock, Sean Walton.

Directed by Emilie Beck. Sound Design & Original Music by Jack Arky. Set Design by Courtney O'Neill. Lighting Design by Christopher Ash. Costume Design by Nikki Delhomme. Assistant Director: Elissa Weinzimmer.

May 2008:
Staged reading to benefit In Defense of Animals at Acme Comedy Theatre, Los Angeles.

Cast:
Belle Aire, Bruce Daniels, Paula Malcomson, Debra Wilson Skelton, David Rees Snell, Lisa Ann Walter.

Directed by Kirsten Sanderson. Produced by Elaine Hendrix. Associate Producers: Liz Owen and Lotti Louise Pharriss.

*Member of Actors Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

In September 2005, three weeks after Hurricane Katrina left thousands of people and animals homeless, Los Angeles-based actor Tim Maddock volunteered to rescue animals in Louisiana. He packed up his car with food, water, clothing, work boots, flashlights and spare batteries; said goodbye to his life-partner and sheepdog; and headed east.

During his time in New Orleans, Tim witnessed the plight of the animals that survived the storm, the desperation of people searching for the animals they had been forced to leave behind, and the toxic conditions that both animals and people were forced to endure. In addition to the obvious destruction Katrina caused, Tim also encountered the bureaucratic problems borne out of an excess of red tape, an overloaded infrastructure, and people taking the system into their own hands.

Nearly a year after the hurricane, BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO WORDS opened at the Lounge Theatre in Hollywood, produced by Weirdsmobile Productions. The play, co-written by Maddock and Lotti Louise Pharriss, chronicled Tim's experiences as an animal rescue volunteer, the stories of those he encountered and the emotional journey that extended well beyond the time he spent in New Orleans. The play garnered rave reviews over its five-week run and was later nominated for an LA Weekly Theater Award for Best Ensemble Cast and two LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards for World Premiere Play and Ensemble Performance.

BTHNW_CHI

The play had its Midwest Premiere as part of the 2007-2008 season at the Piven Theatre Workshop in Evanston, IL. Again it received rave reviews from the Chicago theatre press, and was nominated by the Joseph Jefferson Awards committee for Best Ensemble and won for Sound Design.

BTHNW_IDA

BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO WORDS was also presented as a staged reading in May 2008 to benefit the national animal rights organization In Defense of Animals. Produced by IDA's celebrity spokesperson Elaine Hendrix (The Parent Trap), the cast included David Rees Snell (The Shield), Paula Malcomson (Deadwood) and Debra Wilson Skelton (MadTV). The evening raised over $10,000 for IDA.

Watch clips from the IDA reading:

Clip 1: "Promise"

Clip 2: "Species"

Clip 3: "Wolf Dog"

BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO WORDS will be published in 2011 by Northwestern University Press in an anthology titled 'Katrina On Stage: Five Plays Exploring Hurricane Katrina.' More information coming soon.

For more information, a press kit or a copy of the play, you may contact Weirdsmobile Productions directly or the play's representatives at Robert A. Freedman Dramatic Agency (NYC): 212.840.5760.

“We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words.” — from the novel Black Beauty by Anna Sewell